Operation Hope

“A cause . . . and not just a company.”

Operation HOPE, Inc., a national non-profit self-help organization and a leading provider of economic empowerment tools and services for the under-served and the wealthless, is America’s first non-profit social investment banking organization. Headquartered at Wilshire Boulevard and Hope Street in Los Angeles, California, Operation HOPE has regional operations in Southern California, Northern California, Chicago, IL, Portland, OR, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore, MD, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.

Founded May 5th, 1992 in Los Angeles, California, immediately following the worst civil unrest in U.S. history, Operation HOPE emerged from the ashes as a symbol of new and renewed HOPE for underserved communities. 

John Bryant, the founder of Operation HOPE, believes “there is a difference between being broke and being poor. That being broke is a temporary economic condition, but being poor is a disabling state of mind, and a depressed condition of your spirit; and that we, each of us, must make a vow never, ever to be poor (in spirit) again.”

The mission of Operation HOPE is the eradication of poverty, by utilizing education as the ultimate poverty eradication tool, through a philosophy of practical “self-help,” and by providing real tools for economic empowerment.

Working in partnership with community leaders, elected officials, and the private-sector, Operation HOPE creates and manages a focused group of companies, targeted projects and empowerment initiatives that together provide real solutions to poverty in America.

The true test of Operation HOPE lies within its “power to convert;” converting check cashing customers into banking customers; converting renters into homeowners; converting small business dreamers into small business owners; converting minimum wage workers into living wage workers with 21st century job skills; and converting the economically uneducated into the economically literate and empowered.

Operation HOPE, Inc. and its initiatives provide:

• Economic education
• Economic literacy
• Credit counseling
• Budget counseling
• Case management
• Borrower preparation
• Homeownership and small business loans
• Banking and financial services
• Emergency financial counseling services (“economic triage”)

Investment In The Work of Hope

Government, banks, corporations, non-profit organizations and community stakeholders can make a social investment in the work of Operation HOPE.

Defining a Social Investment

A social investment is an investment of money, in-kind and pro-bono professional services and resources, on improving the lives of others. A social investment should have a “return” associated with it, and should be “hand-up” rather than “hand-out” oriented. The education, empowerment, wealth development and conversion work of Operation HOPE is an example of a social investment with a tangible return.

A Return on Investment

At Operation HOPE an “investor” (government, foundation, bank, corporation, company, group and/or individual) makes a social investment, in the form of money, in-kind and pro-bono professional resources. These investors receive “a return” on their investment, by way of reducing reliance on public subsidy and by increasing economic independence. This ultimately can ultimately lead lower crime rates and higher levels of hope and community esteem. For the private sector, it can also lead to the creation of new and emerging markets and opportunities for the procurement of viable “new customers,” and related revenue.

An example of a return on investment is Operation HOPE’s work to create a new homeowner in under-served communities. A new homeowner creates the following return:

• A new community investor (the lending bank), having enlightened self-interest.
• A concerned citizen with a stake in the community (a de-facto policeman on that block).
• A taxpayer (property taxes), resulting in an increase in local public services.
• A new voter (People vote when they have a stake in the system and in their community).

Ways to Invest in HOPE

Individuals and corporations can invest in the work of Operation HOPE in several ways, including:

• Becoming a paid annual member.
• Becoming a government, private sector or community partner.
• Becoming a sponsor of special programs and events.
• Making a charitable grant towards our work.
• Becoming a volunteer.